Gas-engine.



N0.734,2sv. PATENTED JULY 21,1903. J-. 1). MoFARLAND, JE-

GAS ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 3, 1901.

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' No; 734,237. I PATENTED JULY 21, 1903.

J. n. MOPARLAND, JR-

GAS ENGINE.

APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 3, 1901.

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UNITED STATES Patented July 21, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES D. MOFARLAND, JR., OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOHN BRUCKMAN, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

GAS-ENGINE.

QPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 734,237, dated July 21, 1903.

Application filed. June 3, 1901. Serial No. 62,918. (No model.)

To whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES D. MOFARLAND,

Jr., a citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county of San Francisco, State of California, have invented an Improvement in Gas-Engines; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

to explosive-engines inwhich the cylinders are mounted radially with relation to an axis and in which their piston-rods are connected to a shaft eccentric to this axis.

It consists of the parts and the arrangements I5 and combinations of parts which I will hereinafter describe and claim.

Having reference to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the engines. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section through the head of a cylinder andits connections. Fig. 3 shows the lower portion of the valve-operating lever and connections. Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional View, partly in elevation, of a rotary gas-engine embodying my invention. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section through the crank-shaft and hub of the cylinder-carrying wheel. Fig. 6, is a cross section on line y g of Fig. 5.

One object of my invention is to obviate the leakage of gas and loss of power usual in the engines in which the inlet and exhaust valves are located contiguous to the crankshaft and wherein the admission and exhaust take place at the inner end of the cylinders Another object is to confine the attachment of thepiston-rods to the crank-shaft within the narrowest possible limits and to provide for take-up when these bearing parts have become worn.

In the present invention (see Fig. 4) I have shown my improvements as applicable either to an oscillating or revolving cylinder engine.

In Fig. 1, A represents the base or frame of an oscillating-cylinder engine in which the cylinders 2 are pivotally suspended at their outer ends by the hollow trunnions 3. The pistons 2' have their rods 25 connected with the crank of the shaft 21, so as to stand in the same plane, in a manner to be shown so later. 'One end of the trunnions 3 contains the exhaust-port 4 and the other the inlet- 'the slots 15 in the stem 8.

port 5, each of said ports opening into the central passage 9, which communicates with the interior of the cylinder. 6 and 7 are puppet-valves controlling, respectively, the inlet and exhaust of the propelling medium to and from the cylinder. The stem 8 of the former is provided with a hollow portion in 1 which the stem 10 of the exhaust-valve is My invention relates to improvements in.

slidable. The former extends without the casing, and a packing 11 insures a tight joint. The propelling fluid enters the port 5 and around the stem 8 from the pipe 12. The

operation of these valves is etTected as follows: A lever 13 is pivoted upon the frame at lat and has its upper or outer end pivoted to the stem of the exhaust-valve and playingin A spring 16 bears against the outer end of the stem 8 and against the lever and acts to hold the two valves normally seated. The feed-valve is opened only by the suction,the exhaust-valve by the oscillation of the lever. The exhaustvalve is insured against opening during the moment of suction by means of a spring-17 engaging the other end of the lever 13. The oscillation of the lever 13 is effected by means of asegmental cam 18 upon the face of the reducing-gears 19, which latter mesh with the gear 20 upon the shaft 21 of the engine.

. In an engine of the four-cycle type the diameter of the reducing-gear 19 would be twice that of the gear 20 and the length of the cam 18 would be one-quarter of acircumference, so that while the valve 7 remains closed duringthe moments of suction, compression, and explosion the cam would con tact with the lever to open the valve during that portion of the revolution of the crankshaft in which the consumed gases were be- 0' ing expelled from the cylinder. The explosion is occasioned by this same cam 18 contacting at the proper interval with a button 23 to close the circuit of the sparking device 22. The connections of the wires with the 5 cylinders to effect the discharge may be made in any usual or desired form, but which it is not necessary here to show.

There may be as many cylinders disposed radially in relation to the crank-shaft, as de- 1:0 sired, and the feed-pipes 12 may be connected with a common supply-pipe 24.-

The piston rods 25 are attached to the crank in such manner that the rods will all practically stand in the same plane and likewise the cylinders.

Fig. 4 shows a revolving-cylinder engine in which A is the ring or wheel, having a hub 40, turnable about the stationary shaft 21, in which ring or wheel the cylinders are trunnioned.

Fig. 5 shows the hub 40 of a revolving-cylinder engine. In this case the cylinders would be trunnioned at their outer ends, as in the first instance, except that their support would be a revoluble rim or ring, while the shaft 21 would be stationary. The propelling medium is delivered into a passage 24 in the shaft2l. Thepassage24opensinto an annular channel 41 in thehuo 40, or this annular channel may be formed upon the shaft. Connecting with this channel and extending radially with the cylinders are the feed-pipes 12,which open, as in the first instance,into the inlet-ports 5. The operation of the valves is as before described.

Having thus described myinvention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. An engine comprising a frame or support, trunnions extending across the same, said trunnions having a centrally-located opening, a gas-inlet passage at one end and an exhaust-passage at the opposite end, cylinders communicating with said central openings of the trunnions, a crank-shaft, pistons operating in the cylinders and having their rods connected to said shaft, oppositely-closing valves adapted to seat against the adjacent inner ends of the inlet and exhaust passages and havingstems fitting one within the other, and both extending through the same end of the trunnions, said inlet-valve operated by the suction of the pistons, means for holding the exhaust-valve closed during the operation of the inlet-valve and means for opening the exhaust-valve for discharging the products after explosion.

2. In a gas-engine the combination of a frame or support, cylinders located within the same, a crank-shaft, pistons connected thereto, trunnions journaled across the frame and connected to the outer ends of the cylinders each of said trunnions having a passage at one end for the inlet of gas and a passage at the out-er end for the exhaust of exploded products, and a lateral passage connecting the adjacent inner ends of the said passages with the outer ends of the cylinders, oppositely-closing valves controlling the adjacent ends of the inlet and exhaust passages, both of said valves being spring-controlled, and means for operating the exhaust-valve.

3. The combination in an engine of a frame or support, trunnions extending across the same, having an inlet-passage at one end, an exhaust-passage at the opposite end and a centrallateral opening, cylinders having their outer ends connected to the trunnions and in communication with thelateral opening thereof, pistons operating in the cylinders and a crank-shaft to which the pistons are connected, inlet and exhaust valves controlling the adjacent ends of the inlet and exhaust passages, and having stems extending in the same direction one within the other, springs by which said valves are normally held closed, a lever connected to the stem of each of the exhaust-valves, reducing-gears and a gear intel-posed between the same, and a cam on each reducing-gear by which the levers of the exhaust-valve stems are actuated.

4. In an engine, the combination of a frame or support, a cylinder, apiston movable therein, a crank-shaft, a piston-rod connecting, with said shaft, a hollow trunnion by which said cylinder is pivotally suspended at its outer end, said trunnion having a central opening, a gas-inlet leading thereto from one end and an outlet-passage leading from said opening toward the opposite end, oppositely-closing puppet-valves controlling the admission and exhaust to and from the cylinder, said valves movable in the passages in said trunnion, and means by which said valves are operated in relation to the reciprocations of the pistonrod.

5. In an engine the frame or support, the trunnions extending across the same having a passage in each end and a-lateral opening in communication with the adjacent ends of each passage, cylinders connected to the trunnions, pistons operating in the cylinders and provided with rods, a crank-shaft, a hub upon the shaft, having an annular channel, said shaft having a passage through it and connecting with said channel, oppositely-closing puppet-valves controlling the inlet and exhaust passages, means for operating the exhaust-valves, a fuel-feed pipe and other pipes leading therefrom to the inlet-passages of the trunnions.

6. In an engine, the combination of a frame or support, a crank-shaft, a cylinder, a piston movable therein, apiston-rod connecting with said crank-shaft, a trunnion by which said cylinder is pivotally suspended at its outer end, admission and exhaust ports in said trunnion, valves seating therein, the stems of the exhaust-valve movable within the stem of the inlet-valve, slots in the latter of said stems, a lever having one end pivoted to the stem of the exhaust-valve, springs by which said valves are normally held closed, and means by which said lever is oscillated to open the exhaust-valve.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

JAMES D. MCFARLAND, JR.

Witnesses:

S. H. NoURsE, CHAS. E. TOWNSEND. 

